A CRICKETER turned artist is holding a book-signing for his new book that paints a picture of his career – including a detailed painting of Newport’s old Rodney Parade cricket venue.

Former England wicket-keeper Jack Russell visited the Gwent area on numerous occasions during his years playing for Gloucestershire and has sketched or painted every ground he attended.

Now, he is returning to Newport Cricket Club to hold a book-signing.

The Gwent area features heavily, as Mr Russell returned to Ebbw Vale and Abergavenny to paint and sketch the grounds. However, he had one major problem; the Newport ground had been replaced by a school.

“I knew it had been knocked down. But I wanted to go and visit it anyway.

“It holds some great memories and I thought there may be something still there that I could latch on to.

“The trees that were by the boundaries were still there,which was a nice thing to see and brought back great memories.

“I played the last game at Newport Cricket Club, so it was one I definitely wanted included in the book, so I got hold of an old picture and used that.

“I painted it with a sunset and the rugby ground in the background. It is actually one of the biggest paintings in the book, which shows how much it means.”

A short anecdote is included with each ground.

Ebbw Vale’s Eugene Cross Park, and Abergavenny’s Pen-Y-Pound are both in the book, which has more than 150 paintings and sketches.

“Abergavenny is a beautiful ground,” added Mr Russell. “It was a really nice ground to paint as it’s very scenic.”

The book signing will take place at Newport Cricket Club in Lliswerry tomorrow, 12pm-2pm.